2 Kings 2:4-6; Matthew 5

–God—who is  More Than Enough—

2 Kings 2: 4 slices close … leaving this vulnerable heart

exposed;

the desperation and the terror of the woman pulses through the first paragraph:

4 Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” ESV emphasis mine

Yet-  in her desperation- faith rises- she cried to Elisha.  He responds:

 ² And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?” ESV

What do you have in the house?….nothing but a jar of oil.

And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” ³ Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. ⁴ Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” ⁵ So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. ⁶ When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another.” Then the oil stopped flowing. ⁷ She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.” ESV

She went into a “secret” place; a private place (shut the door behind yourself)- and she poured from her jar- into all the jars they gathered in obedience.

And God provided and delivered.

The Lord can take the small capacity of my oil and multiply it again and again; above and beyond.  I ponder what this oil is in my life. Different thoughts surface for me.

What surfaces for you?

Another thought swirls for me:

What do I have in the (this) house?

There is a circumstance in my life that sometimes leads me to what feels like the very edge of desperation. The pressure wipes memories from my mind and tightens vessels in my body. It presses on my chest with a weight that can flatten me to the bed, to the chair, to the floor; flatten the life out of me.

This chapter:

The servant’s husband was dead; a man who served the Lord. The creditor is coming to take her two children as slaves; the family that remains in the wake of her husband’s death. My heart roils with her grief and despair; this vulnerable woman.

(Again)

⁵ So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. ⁶ When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another.” Then the oil stopped flowing. ⁷ She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.” ESV emphasis mine

Sometimes I despise the small things… the “vessel of oil” that is mine in my life. The Lord reminds me that He is fully able to take that small thing and multiply it into a full, bounty of provision.

Lord, help me consecrate my oil unto You. Let me live in obedience to You. May I see and experience the bounty of Your provision. Increase my faith to ask of You and to take any needed actions/steps. You do all things well. Amen.

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